The Chairman of the Committee on the Rights of the Child, Dr Nebojsa Stefanovic said that children and single parents deserve special attention as they are always at the top of all statistical data on endangered groups of citizens afflicted by poverty. He said that about 400,000 children in Serbia are on some kind of welfare due to social endangerment, stressing that more attention should be paid to developing a partnership with the media when it comes to reporting on domestic violence and violence against women.
The Chairperson of the Committee on Labour, Social Issues, Social Inclusion and Poverty Reduction, Milica Dronjak said that Serbia has at least several dozens of hundreds of children lacking basic living conditions, with single parents being the second most endangered category. She added that combating poverty is a continuous process necessitating the participation of all social factors.
Ombudsman Sasa Jankovic said that most complaints he receives from the citizens relate to the endangerment of economic and social rights. He stressed that social welfare mechanisms cannot help when civic rights are violated because of bad economy. Jankovic also opined that children begging in the streets are the most endangered category requiring the drafting of a protection strategy and plan.
On the occasion of the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty, the members of the two committees were also addressed by Nevena Petrusic, Commissioner for Protection of Equality, Jasmina Ivanovic of the Ministry of Labour, Employment and Social Policy, Zarko Sunderic, Manager of the Social Inclusion and Poverty Reduction Team, Judita Reichenberg, Director of the UNICEF Office for Serbia and Croatia, Ana Jovanovic, President of Association Jelek, Dragana Socanin, President of Association Parent and Dr Ivana Stefanovic, Director of the Child Rights Centre.

The joint sitting of the two committees was organised with the support of the UN Development Programme (UNDP), Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) and UNICEF.

The sitting was chaired by Dr Nebojsa Stefanovic and Ljiljana Lucic, Chairman and Deputy Chairperson of the Committee on the Rights of the Child, and Milica Dronjak, Chairperson of the Committee on Labour, Social Issues, Social Inclusion and Poverty Reduction.